Abstract
THE first volume of Dr. Beal's “Grasses of North America” was published in 1887, and was a work intended more especially for farmers and students, comprising chapters on the physiology, composition, selection, improving, and cultivation of grasses and clovers. The present volume may be regarded as a separate work. It is confined to the Gramineæ, and constitutes a monograph of the North American grasses, native and introduced, with an illustration of each genus. Some idea of the magnitude of the task may be gathered from the fact that the native grasses alone of North America number about 1275 species, included in about 140 genera; while in Europe there are only 47 genera and 570 species. The author brings to his subject a wide practical knowledge, which will make the work of great value to systematic botanists. There is a useful chapter on the geographical distribution of North American grasses, and a copious bibliography is appended.
Grasses of North America.
By W. J. Beal. Vol. ii. Pp. 706. (New York: H. Holt and Co., 1896.)
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Grasses of North America. Nature 55, 557 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/055557e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/055557e0